Gowen x Hyoga + Bloody
As Hyoga settled down from a long day's work, he startled as a his door opened with a woooosh. In the door way stood a disheveled-looking Gowen, his eyes were haunted, his hands were shaking and he was covered in blood. Hyoga hadn't known Gowen for all that long, in fact he found the big burly man to be quite the nuisance, but the vulnerability in Gowen's face as uncertainty and anxiety stained his expression in broad strokes had Hyoga hesitating, he knew that look.
Gowen's eyes finally met his and the way he recoiled as he saw his new partner made Hyoga's heart ache.
"Hyoga...?" The fire user mumbled, breathless. "S-sorry, I... I... I'll go, I didn't mean-"
"You can stay." Hyoga cut through, matching Gowen's surprise with calm empathy. He remembered the day he had lost his first patient, how much of a mess he had been as the blood stained his hands and wouldn't come off no matter how hard he had scrubbed... he could remember how the world had slipped away as the patient had taken his final breath, how no words could surmount the pain and grief... he could remember how badly he wanted someone to tell him it wasn't his fault. The world had not given Hyoga mercy the first time he took someone's life, but Hyoga could give that mercy to Gowen now.